Jewish Students At San Francisco State Sue Over ‘Hostile Environment’
San Francisco State campus Image by Wikimedia Commons
Jewish students at San Francisco State University, along with local Jewish community members, have filed a lawsuit against the school, alleging that the administration has “cultivated a hostile environment in which Jewish students are “often afraid to wear Stars of David or yarmulkes on campus, and regularly text their friends to describe potential safety issues,” according to the Los Angeles Times.
The lawsuit stems from a 2016 incident wherein Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat was invited to speak at the school, only to be drowned out by student activists chanting, “Intifada,” “Get the [expletive] off our campus,” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
However, the lawsuit argues that the incident with Barkat was just one of the latest in a long line of similar behavior from students on campus.
“SFSU has not merely fostered and embraced anti-Jewish hostility—it has systematically supported these departments and student groups,” the lawsuit said.
Daniel Ojeda, the university’s counsel, said in a statement that the school, “was not aware of the complaint and has not had an opportunity to review or respond to it.”
Contact Jesse Bernstein at bernstein@forward.com or on Twitter @__jbernstein
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
